Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to semiconductor processing equipment. More particularly, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a controller for the treatment of compounds produced in semiconductor processes.
Description of the Related Art
The process gases used in semiconductor processing include many compounds which can be hazardous. The effluent from these processing facilities may contain thee hazardous compounds or other harmful byproducts which must be treated before disposal due to regulatory requirements and/or environmental and safety concerns. Among these compounds are perfluorocarbons (PFCs), which are used, for example, in etching processes. Therefore, modern processing equipment include treatment technology for the hazardous effluent generated therein.
An inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source, along with other reagents, has been used for the treatment of PFCs and other global warming gases. The plasma generated by the ICP plasma source dissociates these compounds, and the dissociated gases react to form less hazardous materials. However, in order to effectively treat the hazardous compounds to lesser hazardous constituents, the pre-treatment and abatement technology and methodology has become more complex. Current abatement technology have difficulty treating certain types of gases and particulate matter used and generated in deposition processes, such as insulating or conducting materials generated therefrom. As the treatment of the hazardous compounds become more complex, control over the treatment process has increased in complexity as well.
Controls for current treatment technology rely on commercially available programmable logic controllers (PLCs). However, PLCs have limited functionality and often can only control the treatment process along a very narrow and exact routine. At least some hardware adaptations and external logic is required and programming is typically limited to very simple logical structures, if “programmable” at all. Moreover, programming the PLCs to provide error reporting, system interface ports and data logging is essentially unknown in general industry and may in fact be infeasible (such as in relay logic implementations) due to the nature of current PLC designs.
Accordingly, there is needed in the art for an improved controller for operating treatment technology in the semiconductor processes.